LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Leominster firefighter answered the call

I received a phone call from the Sentinel & Enterprise encouraging me to write an update to my letter in regard to smoke alarms in elders' homes, and how we need help changing the batteries.

In my attempt to make my letter brief and to the point I neglected a few important items. First of all my present smoke alarms at the time I wrote this letter had been installed by the Leominster Fire Department without any request by me about four years ago.

Two weeks before this request one of my fire alarms started speaking. I could not understand what it was saying, but I checked my home for any sign of a possible fire. This happened a second time a couple of weeks latter, and that is when I called my local fire department and was told they do not install fire alarms.

After my letter was published, I answered my doorbell to a Lt. John Gendron of the Leominster Fire Department's fire prevention bureau. He had installed my alarm four years ago and apologized for the inappropriate answer I received from the fire department and stated the fireman I spoke with was new.

He also explained that my talking fire alarm was initiated by me by my TV remote. I had recently obtained a new remote from Comcast after mine died, and it has more than 20 buttons. Unfortunately, there were no instructions given with the new remote.

Mr. Gendron replaced my talking fire alarm and said they no longer purchase these type of fire alarms.

I hope my follow-up letter informs the public in Leominster of what is available for our elderly population who are keeping their homes.

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